1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed herein relates to drilling a borehole into the earth and, in particular, to controlling the drilling in an optimal manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Exploration and production of hydrocarbons generally requires that a borehole be drilled deep into the earth. The borehole provides access to a geologic formation that may contain a reservoir of oil or gas.
Drilling operations require many resources such as a drilling rig, a drilling crew, and support services. These resources can be very expensive. In addition, the expense can be even much higher if the drilling operations are conducted offshore. Thus, there is an incentive to contain expenses by drilling the borehole efficiently.
Efficiency can be measured in different ways. In one way, efficiency is measured by how fast the borehole can be drilled. Drilling the borehole too fast, though, can lead to problems. If drilling the borehole at a high rate-of-penetration results in a high probability damaging equipment, then resources may be wasted in downtime and repairs. In addition, attempts at drilling the borehole too fast can lead to abnormal drilling events that can slow the drilling process.
Therefore, what are needed are techniques to optimize a rate-of-penetration while drilling a borehole. Preferably, the techniques automatically optimize the rate-of-penetration.